Late-night Snacks During the World Cup? They Could Be Harmful to Your Health!

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Hwang Du-yeol] As the saying goes, "The World Cup is the peak season for chicken restaurants," many people enjoy late-night snacks while watching sports.

However, since most of these foods are greasy, spicy, and salty, they can negatively affect health, so special caution is required.

If you eat late-night snacks after dinner, you should recognize that it is overeating by consuming the calories of an additional meal. It is best not to eat at all, but if unavoidable, you should eat only a small amount of easily digestible foods.

For late-night snacks, foods that provide satiety in small amounts and cause little stomach irritation, such as bananas, tofu, and warm milk, are good choices. It is advisable to avoid greasy foods like samgyeopsal (pork belly), fried chicken, ham, sausages, processed foods such as ramen, donuts, snacks, and sweets like chocolate, cake, cola, cider, as well as all alcoholic beverages.

The last meal of the day should be about 3 to 4 hours before sleeping, as this is the time it takes for food to digest. If you have eaten a lot or consumed high-calorie foods, digestion may take longer, so you should consider digestion time when deciding on late-night snacks.

Lying down immediately after eating late-night snacks can cause symptoms of gastroesophageal reflux disease such as heartburn or throat irritation, as well as digestive disorders like bloating or nausea. Severe symptoms can also affect sleep quality, which may interfere with daily activities the next day.

Kim Yoon-mi, head of the Comprehensive Health Screening Center at Daedong Hospital, advised, "The World Cup is an exciting sport with plenty to watch, even without late-night snacks. Before eating late-night snacks, you should think once for your health about whether you are truly hungry, if you are eating just because it is the World Cup, and whether you can burn off the calories you consume before sleeping."

If you cannot resist eating late at night, avoid overeating and help digestion and induce sleep through appropriate exercise or stretching after eating.

If your biological rhythm is suddenly disrupted, you may have trouble falling asleep even after going to bed. In such cases, rather than forcing yourself to lie down, it is better to relieve fatigue with a warm shower or light stretching and then try to sleep again.

Many people also turn to coffee to watch soccer matches that last over two hours late at night or early morning.

Drinking high-caffeine coffee, carbonated drinks, or beer at night can disrupt your biological rhythm and cause digestive disorders and various diseases, so it is best to avoid them.

Instead of coffee, consuming green tea or herbal tea greatly helps suppress appetite and recover from fatigue.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.